For Shits and Giggles (complete first draft)

Chapter 18

The ride away from the facility was quiet.

There were more stars than clouds overhead, the road was pitch black except for the SUV's headlights. Fliqpy was at the wheel, Giggles was in the passengers seat. Petunia sat quietly in the back.

"Handy must be worried sick..." Petunia sighed, checking her phone. She was right, he'd called her several times. She rung him back, speaking to him quietly.

"Hi darling...yes...I'm alright...no...no...I'll explain when I get home...should be there soon... yes... I love you too."

Giggles checked her own phone.

1:24 AM.

She had several missed calls: some from Splendid, one from Flaky, dozens from Cuddles.

Scarier than that, there was only 1 New Message from Cuddles since she'd last checked her phone: I'm pissed.

Giggles ignored it. There was a violent thumping in her head. Her lungs were still on fire, her throat was scratched red and bloody. Before they'd left the facility, Fliqpy had released Lifty and Shifty from their restraints. They didn't attempt to run or to escape. They only sat there on the cell floor, glancing between each other and snickering. They stared down Petunia, Fliqpy, and Giggles as the three of them exited the building. Still, they didn't move. So they were left alone.

"You're going to regret this," Sniffles had said one last time watching them leave. Fliqpy was half way out the door when he'd said it. He turned on his heels and stomped his way back into Sniffles' cell.

"Fuck you," he said, gripping Sniffles' hair so tightly that his scalp began to separate from his skull. He slammed his head into the chair back so hard that his brains painted the wall a pretty pink-red color.

"What's going to happen to you when the curse is broken," Giggles said as he turned the SUV down the street into her block. "Won't you disappear? You were born from the curse."

"No," said Fliqpy. "I was always here... I made the deal with Her. I'll be the one who stays after." There was only a moments hesitation— less than half a second, if that. But it was enough for Giggles to catch the doubt in his voice.

Giggles entered her home. She was exhausted, defeated, somehow both hopeless and hopeful at the same time. The curse finally had an end in sight— she didn't want to believe it, not completely. She wouldn't be able to handle a disappointment this immense, if her eyes were to fail breaking the deal. But, silver lining, if breaking the deal didn't work... at least she would get her eyes back the next day. Giggles tried not to think about the pain and sat at her kitchen table downstairs.

She pulled out a pen, a paper, and wrote.

"Dear anybody,

At first, we thought we were lucky. Chosen for something special."

She wrote for a long time. By the time she was done, several pages were done and her hand was cramped and throbbing.

Reading over her letter, she was satisfied— pleasantly surprised at how expressive she was allowed to be. Giggles had attempted to write out her true feelings and thoughts before. She'd tried texting, typing, hand writing letters. But, just like speaking out loud, she could never get her true thoughts out on paper. This time, although not fully, her feelings were much clearer. Was this a good sign? Her fingers finally reflected what was on her mind, if only by a little.

"Cuddles, that's my boyfriend... so sweet, caring, and attentive. But now, he's suffocating me. He's possessive, he'a becoming cruel. I love him but he scares me."

This was the sentence she kept rereading. "Would this be enough," Giggles said to herself. "If I showed this to Splendid... to anyone, would it be enough?"

She wondered if it was even worth it. The curse would be broken tomorrow— hopefully— and she could tell Cuddles off properly. She could send him to hell with proper gusto. But what if it failed? Her mind kept going back to what if I fail? This letter could be her saving grace. She'd show it to her friends and they would get the message, they would help her. She thought back to Petunia who knew her terrible secret. Undoubtedly, she was going to tell Flaky what Giggles had done. Will I even still have friends after this?, Giggles thought. Worst case scenario, she'd stuff the letter into a bottle and send it down the river like they did in the movies, and hope for the best. She folded the letter neatly, carefully, and left it on the table.

Giggles looked at her phone again. She deleted every notification and text message from Cuddles, rung Splendid instead.

"Splendid..."

"Giggles," His voice was raspy, strained. She'd clearly woken him from his sleep, but he was still happy to hear from her. Giggles couldn't help but smile, her chest felt warm. Splendid was always there for her— day or night.

"It's so late, are you okay?"

"Yes... I'm alright."

"I tried calling you..." he paused for a moment, Giggles listened to his breathing. "I even thought about flying by your house yesterday but I didn't want you to think I was stalking you."

Giggles laughed.

"Did I do something to upset you," he asked.

"Of course not," she said. "I'm not upset with you."

Splendid paused again, as if not believing her. "I wish I could see you..."

"I spoke to Flippy," she said softly, Giggles could feel the tension through the phone.

"What? Did he kill you? Is that why you've been gone? I swear to God I'm going to—"

"He didn't kill me," she said quickly, hearing him shuffle out of bed over the phone. He was throwing on his jumpsuit, getting ready to leave before he heard Giggles continue. "He just... remember at the Cafe, you were about to tell me something? Right before Cuddles came in. What were you going to say?"

Splendid sat back down on his bed. This time, he paused a moment longer.

"I was asking you about my eyes..." she added.

"I remember," he said. Splendid took a deep breath.

"Did you know," Giggles asked impatiently. "About my curse?"

"Yes."

Her breath caught in her throat. She didn't want it to be true— keeping a secret this big, especially when it pertained to her, it was devastating.

"This entire time... you knew? About the witch?"

"Wait," Splendid said quickly. "Witch? What witch?"

"Flippy told me..."

"What are you talking about?"

"So... you really don't know," relief washed over her. "About the deal Flippy made with the witch?"

"No," he sounded genuinely confused, concerned. "What deal?"

"Please come over tomorrow," Giggles said, happy that her suspicions were wrong. Happy that Splendid hadn't been lying to her. "I have to tell you something, it's good news. I just... I need to see you."

Splendid smiled, it was like he was having the sweetest of all dreams. "Yeah? I'll come by first thing then."

"I can't wait," then she paused. "But... if not the witch... what do you know about my eyes? What were you going to say?"

There it was again, the uncomfortably long silence from his end.

"...Tomorrow, when I see you. I'll tell you everything."

Giggles wanted to pull it out of him right there and then. Suddenly, she heard heavy footsteps rushing down the stairs towards the kitchen— then, a shadow. Giggles stood up quickly. She nearly jumped out of her skin in fright. Had someone broken in?

"There you are," the voice came from behind the shadow. "Where have you been?" From upstairs and into the kitchen walked in Cuddles. He'd been asleep in her bedroom, waiting for her to return.